Skyfall could easily have taken home our Best Soundtrack gong – if only it’s stunning sets and scenery didn’t steal the show. Directed by Sam Mendes, it also sees the first appearance of Ben Wishaw as Q (the head of research and development at MI6) and Naomie Harris as Moneypenny. Bond’s final showdown with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) stays in the memory not only for its dramatic backdrop, but for a twist that few see coming.

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The first Bond film ever made, Dr. No introduces Sean Connery as 007 and remains one of the most memorable in the franchise. Produced on a tiny budget compared to today’s mammoth studio undertakings, it was a financial success on its release – thanks in no small part to Ursula Andress’s appearance as Honey Ryder, a shell diver who emerges from the water in a scene echoed by later Bond girls like Halle Berry. Julie Christie was originally considered for the part, but it eventually went to Andress just two weeks before shooting began. Word on the street is it was Kirk Douglas who convinced her to go for it.

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The only Bond movie with George Lazenby as the secret agent, it also stars Diana Rigg as Tracy di Vicenzo, a vulnerable countess who captures Bond's heart, and Telly Savalas as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the leader of Spectre. This is also the only film in which Bond actually marries his love interest, and the ending is surely the most shocking in the canon. Critics panned it at the time – mainly over a lack of gadgets and Lazenby’s lacklustre performance – but modern-day reviews have been far more favourable, praising Lazenby’s ‘vulnerable’ take on the character. Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh claims it’s the only Bond film worth watching on repeat.
 
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Sean Connery returned to the role of Bond for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, earning a record salary of $1.25 million. There are some memorable moments – the Vegas car chase and moon buggy scenes among them – but be warned, this is one of the least plot-driven Bond films and contains one of the weakest portrayals of a Bond girl. However, the music – and specifically the main theme – are iconic. Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds Are Forever was her second Bond theme (after 1964’s Goldfinger) and continues to be sampled by the likes of Kanye West today.

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This is one of the most successful Bond films in the franchise: its takings exceeded the previous three films and the following five. Thunderball follows Connery’s Bond on a mission to find two Nato atomic bombs stolen by Spectre, which holds the world to ransom, threatening to destroy an unspecified metropolis in either the UK or the US. Around a quarter of the film is underwater and it’s the gadgets down there – including Bond’s own jet pack – that really stick in people’s minds. Production designer Ken Adam later revealed the jet pack was real, based on a model that had been built for the US Army.

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Bond fans often hail the opening sequence of Quantum Of Solace as one of the best car chases of all time. It’s got some serious competition, though. When Pierce Brosnan’s invisible Aston Martin Vanquish V12 is rumbled by a crashing skidoo in Die Another Day, he must escape from diamond-encrusted villain Zao (Rick Yune) on the ice – while also saving a drowning Halle Berry. The driving on display here is pretty impressive – more often than not it’s the gadgets which fuel Bond car chases, but this is a perfect blend of man and machine.

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It’s an ongoing debate, but we think there are few villains more terrifying than Jaws, as portrayed in The Spy Who Loved Me by Richard Kiel. Ignoring most of the original plot laid out by the novel of the same name, the film focuses on a reclusive megalomaniac named Karl Stromberg, who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilisation under the sea. Bond (now played by Roger Moore) teams up with Soviet agent Anya Amasova to foil the plan, while being hunted by Stromberg’s powerful henchman – the aforementioned Jaws. Appearing again in Moonraker, Jaws is one of the most popular Bond characters of all time – a highly skilled killer who relies on brute strength and steel teeth to dispatch his victims.

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Pierce Brosnan’s first outing as Bond was probably also his best. With a theme song sung by Tina Turner, and a supporting cast including Sean Bean as villain Alec Trevelyan, Goldeneye pays special tribute to Bond's creator, Ian Fleming. While working for British Naval Intelligence, Fleming was involved in the real-life Operation Goldeneye. Back on screen, the opening 220m bungee jump at Arkhangelsk, shot at the Contra Dam in Switzerland, was voted the best movie stunt of all time in a 2002 poll, and even set a record for the highest bungee jump off a fixed structure.

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